War on Terror, 2010

href:#link:showcaption:1showtitle:1title:War on Terror, 2010caption:Oil on linen by Charlotta Westergren

PAINTER COMBINES ART HISTORY WITH NATURAL THEMES IN EXHIBITION AT ESTHER MASSRY GALLERY

ALBANY (October 2, 2013) -- The Esther Massry Gallery at The College of Saint Rose presents the exhibition “Progeny” by Swedish-born artist Charlotta Westergren that features paintings on linen, lamé and aluminum, works on paper and video.

The exhibit opens Friday, October 18, and continues through Sunday, December 8, at the Esther Massry Gallery, Massry Center for the Arts, 1002 Madison Ave., Albany. Gallery hours are: Monday–Friday noon–5 p.m., Wednesday–Thursday noon–8 p.m., Sunday noon–4 p.m. The gallery will be open for 1st Fridays, November 1 and December 6, from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. and closed November 27–December 1 (Thanksgiving break)

In addition, a gallery reception will be held Friday, October 18, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. The artist will present a talk at 7 p.m. in Saint Joseph Hall Auditorium, 985 Madison Ave., Albany. All events are free and open to the public.

Westergren works in a variety of mediums including installation, video and primarily painting. Her psychologically acute work explores our relationship with time and the increasing difficulty of stopping and slowing it in the modern age. The artist employs symbolism, history and tradition to explore contemporary concerns. She draws on Old Master techniques going back to great Flemish works of the Northern Renaissance. The Flemish painters used the precision of their painting as a way of understanding the natural world that was so inexplicable. Westergren says that when she creates her work, she is communing with the great artists of history and a tradition stretching hundreds of years.

Westergren's work, however, also draws from the nuances of her own family history and both adult and childhood memories. The psychological acuity of her work is often cited: The Huffington Post describes the figures in her work as “isolated, vulnerable, and wounded.” The New York Times has called Westergren’s work self-aware and “sweet but tense.” Often it operates on several levels, not just psychologically, but visually, playing with scale, texture and material. In a superficial, screen-obsessed and multi-tasking world, Westergren’s work aims to draw out deeper emotional responses, from dislocation to joy.

“War on Terror,” a signature painting in the exhibit, comes from the “Unicorn Tapestries,” the most iconic artworks to come out of the Dark Ages. The unicorn, usually a symbol of innocence, is pictured as the aggressor, highlighted by the close crop that focuses on the unicorn goring a dog with its horn.

Westergren’s video, “Progeny,” located in the screening room, was created while the artist was in residence at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. It was shot on location at a vineyard in Provence. The interior scenes are in the hearth, the original part of the home dating back to 1300. The video unfolds as a dream sequence drawing on a story that was told by the vineyard’s owner, Soledad, which became the inspiration to create a personal myth. The original music score is by German composer Julia Deppert, a fellow resident of Camargo.

Westergren was born in Stockholm, Sweden. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Barnard College, Columbia University (1991), and a master of fine arts from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Tufts University, Boston, Mass.

The artist has received numerous awards including P.S. 1 Studio Program and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, both in New York City; Art Omi, Ghent, N.Y. (2000); Bemis Center for Contemporary Art (2001); Camargo Foundation Residency and Artist’s Grant, France (2007 and 2013); and Lux Institute, Encinitas, Calif. Her work is included in numerous private collections. Westergren currently works and lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. For more about the artist, visit www.charlottawestergren.com.

For more information about the exhibition, visit www.strose.edu/gallery or contact Jeanne Flanagan, gallery director and curator, at 518-485-3902 or flanagaj@strose.edu.